UNESCO urges Poland to stop logging ancient forest

The Białowieża forest boasts unique plant and animal life -- including the continent's largest mammal, the European bison -- as well as one of the largest surviving parts of the primeval forest that covered the European plain 10,000 years ago. [@BirdLifeEurope/Twitter]

The committee, which is meeting in the southern Polish city of Krakow this year, also called on “the state party of Poland to maintain the continuity and integrity of protected old-growth forest in Białowieża forest.”

Straddling Poland’s eastern border with Belarus, Białowieża boasts unique plant and animal life — including the continent’s largest mammal, the European bison — as well as one of the largest surviving parts of the primeval forest that covered the European plain 10,000 years ago.

The Polish government has said it authorised the logging to contain damage caused by a spruce bark beetle infestation and to fight the risk of forest fires.

But environmental activists allege that the government’s explanation is being used as a cover for the commercial logging of protected old-growth forests.

.@UNESCO called for halt to logging in Białowieza Forest & is going to send another control mission to check the current state of the forest pic.twitter.com/0KmgIey1ux